Scythians and Amazons (CLA3022)
| Staff | Professor David Braund - Convenor |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 30 |
| ECTS Value | 15 |
| NQF Level | 6 |
| Pre-requisites | The successful completion of at least 90 credits at Level 2, 30 credits of which must be in Classics & Ancient History. |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module | Term 1: 11 weeks; Term 2: 11 weeks; |
Module aims
This module explores notions of Scythians and Amazons. Accordingly, its emphasis is much more upon Greek texts and images than upon archaeology and Scythian realities. This module aims to place students at the cutting edge of research, by close reading and broad thinking about the coherence and function of Greek ideas and practice. There is little modern scholarship in English, so that the ancient sources predominate. The key texts studied are principally Herodotus, Histories (especially book 4), Euripides, Iphigeneia in Tauris, Aristophanes, Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae, the Airs, Waters, Places, Strabo, Dio Chrysostom 36 and the dialogues of Lucian. These texts are placed, with others, in a historical framework which stretches from archaic Greece to the Roman Principate. Art and archaeology are sometimes important in this module, especially in the context of fifth-century Athens.
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. demonstrate an ability to be able to describe and creatively analyse texts and images bearing on the related issues of Scythians and Amazons over an extended period of history
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 2. interpret complex texts, images and ideas, and explore the interaction of history, literature and art.
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 3. demonstrate developed and applied independent research skills, individually and collectively
- 4. argue a case before an audience and to engage in intellectual exchange with others
Syllabus plan
First semester: The world of Herodotus 1. Key texts and issues 2. From Herodotus to Homer and back: Alcman and Hipponax 3. Herodotus and the sixth century: Amazons 4. Herodotus: innovator and polemicist 5. Scythian origins: autochthony 6. Scythians, Spartans and Ionians 7. The essential Herodotus 8. Pericles in the Black Sea: Amazons in art 9. Scythian police in the Athenian democracy 10. Euripides and the Taurians 11. Airs, Waters, Places 12. Review.
Second semester: Later Greece and the Roman empire 1. Demosthenes and Scythians 2. Scythian justice: Strabo and Aeschylus 3. Anacharsis 4. Scythia, India and the Caspian Gates 5. Ovidian images 6. Scythians in Greek novels 7. Amazons, feminism and other approaches: Herodotus to Plutarch 8. Tacitus Scythians and Amazons 9. Dio Chrysostom 36: images of Olbia 10. Lucian's Scythians11. Review of second semester 12. Revision of module.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | 256 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 44 | 1 x 2 hours seminar per week |
| Guided independent study | 256 | Private study |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | 50 | Three hours | 1-4 | |
| Two Essays | 50 | 3000 words | 1-4 |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Set Texts:
Herodotus, Histories (Penguin)
Euripides, Iphigeneia among the Taurians (Penguin)
Aristophanes, Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae (Penguin)
Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, Places in Hippocratic Writings (Penguin)
Strabo, Geography, Book 7 (Loeb)
Dio Chrysostom Oration 36 (Loeb)
Lucian, Scythian dialogues: Anarcharsis, The Scythian, Toxaris (Loeb)
Passages to be distributed
Modern Scholarship:
D. Braund, Georgia in Antiquity (Oxford 1994)
D.Braund, Scythians and Greeks (Exeter 2005)
J. Gould, Herodotus (London 1981)
F. Hartog, The mirror of Herodotus (Berkeley 1988)
E. Hall, Inventing the barbarian (Oxford 1989)
W.B. Tyrell, Amazons: a study in Athenian mythmaking (Baltimore 1984)
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Available as distance learning?
Yes
Origin date
2011
Last revision date
25/02/2012
Key words search
Classics, Greek, Scythia, Text
